


Decay

by TheUnkindledQueen



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-16
Updated: 2019-08-16
Packaged: 2020-09-01 20:36:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,913
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20264158
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheUnkindledQueen/pseuds/TheUnkindledQueen
Summary: Angela receives a message that takes her to a facility under Talon’s control. She finds worse there than she thought.





	Decay

**Author's Note:**

> This was based off of a dream I had. It’s absolutely an AU and one that explores the idea of Moira and Gabriel suffer effects from their experimentation.

~O~

Angela heard the strange signal and had known somehow that it had belonged to Moira. She didn’t know what compelled her to see the older woman again, but there had been something strange about it. She couldn’t place it, really, but there had been a small sense of urgency in the message that wasn’t like her. Angela knew something was wrong.

She was going on a terrible trip here by herself, but she knew what to expect and how to handle it. She would not dare call her former Overwatch comrades to help her. 

“They were getting sick…”

Angela heard the whisper from the fallen Talon field soldier as she made her way into the facility. He was lying there in a puddle of his own blood, having received gruesome slash wounds across his chest. She knelt down to assess his damages, confused by the sight of a puddle of black ooze.

“What happened?” she questioned, firmly. 

He twitched his head in her direction, but didn’t acknowledge her. “They shouldn’t have brought those two back here.”

“Why?” Angela wanted answers. “Tell me! I can stop it.”

The soldier merely laughed weakly, letting out several horrible, rough coughs in the process. “Y-You stupid girl.”

Angela huffed. She would not get answers from him. So she rose, made her way deeper into the facility. 

It was too quiet and no signs of a single soul to be seen. Lights around her had begun to flicker on and off and she could see why; wires had been torn from plates of metal in the walls, shell casings littered the floor and scorch marks had been burned into the metal around her.

Something was wrong.

Angela heard a hiss of pain and she made her way into a room, stunned to see the blue-skinned shape of Amélie Lacroix laying there, holding her bleeding side with one hand. 

“Amélie.” Angela slowly walked up to her.

The other woman looked up, blinked in surprise for a few seconds before she chuckled. “Ah, look who decided to join us.” she wheezed, “Doctor Ziegler. What a surprise to see you.”

“What happened to you?” Angela asked, unable to stop herself from the mild concern in her voice. She didn’t know if it was for the sniper, or for the situation. 

Amélie’s smile disappeared and she shut her eyes. Her helmet had been smashed, lying beside her. She weakly reached for it and held it up to Angela, who hesitated to take the offering. Amélie thrust it out to her now and Angela took it, after more hesitating. She studied the black slime covering the surface and furrowed her brow, confused. 

“The thing that did this? It used to be Gabriel.” Amélie said, with another sharp hiss of pain. “_Do you think I’d lie to you, amour_?”

“Gabriel did that to you?” Angela had a difficult time accepting that. “Why? I thought he was on your side.”

“He was. For a time. Until he got sick.” the other woman continued to explain, “Then, the doctor got sick too. It was the experiment she had done. It began to change them. Then, their skin turned hot. It got so hot, it fused his armor to his body. He’s horrific to look at.”

Angela shut her eyes. She didn’t want to imagine what that looked like.

“_Fils de pute_. He caught me by surprise. I tried to track him down here and he smashed my visor. The lights must have scared him off because as soon as he saw them, he ran. They…They’re sensitive to it, I suppose.”

Angela swallowed thickly. “What about Moira?”

“Mmm, haven’t seen her,” Amélie continued, leaning her head back. “She’s been quiet down there. It will be a very delightful reunion between you two, I imagine.”

Angela glared at her for a moment when she chuckled. “That was a long time ago…” She stood up. “And now I have something I need to do. I’ll take care of this.”

“By yourself?” 

“Is that concern from you, Amélie?”

Amélie shook her head with a snort. “No. Not concern. I just always remembered you were so foolish.”

“Maybe.” Angela turned to go. She paused in the doorway. “It didn’t have to be like this, Amélie, you know that.” 

And with that, she left.

O

Angela kept her blaster close as she made her way below the facility. It was silent here as well and she could only ignore the bodies of the dead Talon soldiers littered around her. She didn’t want to see the gruesome display and only keep her focus on the task at hand.

There was a wet thump that halted her. 

It was constant, repetitive; like something being hit against the wall. Angela could see a shadow moving in an adjacent hallway and she slowly made her way toward it. 

Angela blinked, horrified by the sight of what was Gabriel, hands up against the wall and repetitively banging his head against it. He was partially swathed in smoke, caught between human and something else. His armor was dripping of black slime, forming a pool at his feet. 

She had been frozen, remembering the last time she had seen the man before he became a member of Talon. He was a murdering terrorist who killed whenever he wanted. He wasn’t the same man he used to be before he changed into the Reaper. 

“_Don’t…Don’t feel like…_” Gabriel breathed, in a distortion of two voices. “_Need it…Need it…_”

“Gabriel.” she whispered.

He didn’t hear her, or at least, didn’t seem to. 

“Gabriel Reyes.” Angela repeated his name with firm resolve. 

His head stopped banging on the wall, hovering inches from it. He lowered his arms and Angela could see his arms began to drip of the same black substance as on Amélie’s helmet. She saw him turn, saw the disfigured visage beneath the veil of smoke. 

Red eyes. 

Broken, frightening teeth displayed in a horrible smile.

Angela raised her blaster, taking steps back as Gabriel began to advance on her. She gave a shriek, pulling the trigger when he charged. A blast ripped into his shoulder and he let out a loud, rattling snarl, knocking Angela onto her back.

She felt the ground beneath her and gripped Gabriel’s face with one hand, struggling to keep him at bay. It soaked her hand in slime. His hand clasped around her throat and she hissed sharply in pain, jaw clenching. Gabriel snarled and spat at her, dripping ooze from his mutilated lips onto her face.

“Stop it, Gabriel!” Angela hissed out. “Please!”

It was useless, she already knew that. She didn’t know what compelled her to beg him. She struggled with her blaster and took a shot directly into his face.

The blast ripped his cheek open and he screamed, recoiling with a hand clasped to his face. 

When he stumbled back and regained his composure, he moved to charge at her again; but Angela flipped on the light on the armor of her chest plating and the bright beam blinded Gabriel. He recoiled once more, shielding his eyes with a pained hiss before retreating into the shadows.

Angela laid there, holding her throat and coughing several times. She was shaking, struggling to regain her senses. Gabriel was gone for now, but she didn’t know for how long. His sensitivity to light would be advantageous. For now, anyway. Whatever experiment Moira had done, it seemed as if it had begun degrading their bodies. 

Her mind then went to Moira and her throat caught a small sound of anguish. Reaching into her armor, she removed a holo disk, which produced an image of herself from the past, holding Moira in an embrace. She was receiving a kiss from the older woman and they were both smiling. 

Who knew how much of it had been a lie?

No, she couldn’t hesitate. She had to find her.

It was then that a loud, piercing scream filled the air.

O

Angela ran down the corridors toward the noise. It was frightened, filled with agony. Distinctly feminine.

She felt her heart hammering in her chest and her legs ached from running. She dreaded what she would find. 

Angela didn’t have to wait long because she entered a laboratory and froze in the doorway.

Standing nearly seven feet tall was a slender, almost serpentine creature swathed in smoke; head partially covered in wet, red fur, long, spider-like arms and legs. It also possessed sharp, violet armor had been fused to its flesh as Gabriel’s had been, but it was all too familiar. 

It had long, bony fingers clutching the face of a struggling Talon soldier. She uselessly clutched at the hand holding her, eyes wide and frightened as her face was brought close to one gleaming blue eye. 

“M-Moira…” Angela moaned, shaking her head with grief in her voice.

The creature looked up at her with a thick, wet snarl. It’s face resembled a terrible skull partially enveloped by black, sticky flesh. One eye stared at her, wide and unseeing for a moment before the pupil narrowed to a tiny pinprick. Angela seized where she stood, blaster close to her chest. 

Moira discarded the soldier roughly to the side, drawing a wet groan from the woman. She gave another rattling hiss, slowly stalking toward Angela. Her teeth chattered as she seemed to struggle to form words. 

“Moira, listen to me!” Angela pleaded, backing toward the door. 

She dared a glance at the soldier, noticing that she wasn’t moving. Her head was bent back in a twisted angle and blood had begun pooling beneath her. Angela knew that she was dead. 

Moira’s good eye focused on her with sharp intensity, but nothing human was there. Her back arched, ready to lunge. 

“Dammit!” Angela cursed, turning and fleeing. 

Moira howled and gave chase.

Angela ran as fast as she could, listening to the thunderous steps behind her as Moira gave chase. She was close, snarling and spitting like a thing possessed. Angela knew that if she was caught, it was over.

She spotted a door marked **“COMMUNICATIONS** and quickly rushed through it, slamming the door closed behind her. It buckled as Moira threw herself against it. Angela backed away, watching the metal groan and bend. It would hold, but not for long.

Angela looked around frantically, looking for anything she could use to contact anyone. She scanned the rows of monitors, dug her way through shelves for a comm link before her hands pressed a button on the console. 

The monitors flickered and one of them produced an image of Moira. Angela paused, frowned at it. The Moira on screen looked haggard, as if she’d run for miles in the sun. Her eyes were sunken, her skin paler than usual. She was covered in a sheen of sweat. 

“_Testing subject matter forty-seven._” she said, “_Cells have begun to degrade at an alarming rate._” She cleared her throat, sniffed once before continuing. “_Subject experiences auditory and visual hallucinations in the second stage. Cellular structure has begun breaking down despite my best efforts. There was a flaw in my approach, it seems._”

Angela’s features were a mask of conflict and pity. She didn’t know what to feel about Moira’s video. The woman who displayed such an air of superiority, pride and strength wasn’t here. This woman was sick and losing touch with who she was. 

The creature outside was a testament to that. 

Outside the room, Moira paced back and forth on all fours, hissing with frustration. She cast her glance up toward a vent and her body began to dissipate into mist as she vanished into it.

“_Ah, my nose…_” Moira on screen touched her nose when blood began to trickle from it. She laughed softly, staring down at her fingertips. “_It would seem time is not on my side. There’s never enough time, I suppose._”

Angela shut her eyes, fighting the tears threatening to form. 

A sigh on the screen returned her attention to it. She watched Moira stare down at something before the older woman laughed quietly. 

“_I can try it again. I can contact her before…well, before things get worse._” she said. “_I could tell her what I should have told her before I left._” 

Angela blinked, horrified by those words. She slowly turned her head to hear the sound of a hiss behind her.

She whirled, letting out a shout when she saw Moira crouched there, a wide, toothy grin on her face. A triumphant snarl escaped her and she stalked toward Angela as the woman backed away from the room. 

“Moira, please…” she begged, tears filling her eyes. 

No response. A continuous advance.

She continued to back up before she lost her balance, slipping on a pool of blood. The force knocked the holo disk from her arm and sent it clattering to the floor. Moira looked down at the noise, growling softly at it when it produced the image of the pair.

Angela followed her movement, watching as Moira scooped the disk up in two long, dangerous fingers. She then lifted it high over her head, above her good eye that focused wildly in that twisted socket. An effort to see properly, no doubt.

Angela was tense. The silence that filled the air was maddening. 

Moira stared at the photo in her hand. She let out a long, agonizing groan that sounded distinctly human. She dropped the holo disk and froze, staring down at Angela with that single huge, blue eye. 

“M-Moira?” she whispered, retrieving her blaster.

Moira recoiled from her now, letting out another haunting sound. She dropped to the floor on all fours, streams of black pouring from her mouth. 

“Don’t make me do this, Moira!” Angela begged.

Moira screeched, hands lashing out at her and the blaster was fired.

O

Angela narrowly missed the swipe of those dangerous nails before she put her arms around Moira’s head. The transformed woman shrieked again and struggled weakly against her, blood gushing from a wound in her shoulder. The smell of wet, rotting flesh suffocated Angela’s nose, but she fought against it.  
She wanted to hold her. She couldn’t help it.

“Oh God, I’m sorry,” Angela moaned, tears sliding down her cheeks, “Y-You left me no choice, I - ”

“_Run, Angela…_” Moira gurgled, her voice throaty and raw. “_Leave me be._”

“No, not this time, Moira,” Angela promised, words trembling out of her. “I won’t. Stay with me, please.”

Moira squirmed and struggled against her for a few moments more before her eye closed and she moaned again. Angela shushed her gently. 

“Shh. Moira, don’t talk. Don’t move. You can still fix this!”

Another grunt from the creature below her. “_I’ve come too far,_” Moira grunted out, “_It cannot be fixed…_”

“No!” Angela rubbed her hands across her face. “No, you’re smart, remember? You are one of the most intelligent minds that I know! You can fix it, Moira!”

Such a ridiculous thing to think, but she was distressed. Angela didn’t realize seeing her like this would hurt so much.

A quiet chuckle from Moira now. “_Mmm, this is one thing I’m afraid I cannot correct. My mind is going. Soon I’ll be lost to you as Gabriel was lost._" 

Angela let out a small hiccup of anguish. This wasn’t fair. She knew that Moira had left her. She knew what she had become a part of. But hearing her now and speaking with her again…it hurt all over. She couldn’t lose her. She didn’t want to lose her. 

"_Still, despite all of…this…_” Moira whispered out, teeth shining with blood, “_I’m glad it was you who finally killed me._”

Angela squeezed her eyes shut, pushing back more tears that fell. She could hear Moira faintly start to hyperventilate. This happened for a few moments, then stopped, then started again. She just continued to hold her head in her lap, struggling to come to terms with what was happening. That she was here, practically alone with a woman who had left her life, only to return like this. 

It wasn’t fair.

She reached down, gently petting her head and soothing her, despite her shaken voice and tears. She looked down now, coming up with a clump of red hair in her hand. Her eyes widened in horror and Moira barely managed to breathe out her words.

“_…Do you think she still thinks of me…?_” she rasped out.

Angela smiled sorrowfully. Moira had been silent for a while, but now, she was still talking. That was good. “Who?" 

Moira’s breathing began to slow. "_I mean… I mean Angela. Does she still think of me?_”

Angela felt her heart sink into the pit of her stomach. She was losing her.

“Moira?” she begged, turning the sticky, damp head gently to meet her eyes. That single blue eye looked so tired. “Look at me. I’m right here! I’m here!”

Moira’s eye blinked slowly. “_Fading…_” she mumbled, her sharp teeth clicking once. “_Fading. I feel it fading…_”

__

__

She shut her eye and Angela listened to those great sides expand once. 

“_Angela…_” Moira’s final words escaped her in a single breath before she stilled completely. 

Angela shuddered, staring ahead of her. She leaned against the wall, her head numb and her eyes wide. 

She didn’t hear the sound of approaching soldiers in the distance. Those she knew. Those who would come and probably have questions.

It was fine, really.

She was fine going with them.

**Author's Note:**

> The chase sequence between Angela and Moira was inspired by the OST “Moon Presence” from Bloodborne.


End file.
